Good news, bad news...

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On a personal note...  obamacare allows "wellness programs" to make people, well, healthier.  These programs must be voluntary.  The company I work for started one last year and I declined to participate.  Why?  Well, because it's voluntary and I didn't feel like volunteering, and because I didn't want my blood being drawn here in Iowa and sent to a lab in Ohio that I know absolutely nothing about.  Not a game I want to play.

The guidelines for Wellness Programs under obamacare suggest that non-participants not be punished for, well, you guessed it...  non-participation.

There were 6 people other than myself working in my facility who declined to participate.  That sent HR and the owner into a tizzy.  They knew I wasn't going to cave but they had one final "sit down" with the other people and told them what their rates were going to be if they refused to play along.  5 of them went with the program.

I am the GM of the facility and have 160 employees.  I report directly to the owner.  My refusal didn't go over very well.  I "should have been out on the floor praising the program" and making sure that everyone on our insurance program participated.  I didn't do that.  My portion of my health insurance premium went from $120 a month for 2012 to $250 a month for 2013.  I asked why I was being punished for not wanting my blood to be drawn and sent to Ohio?  I was told that being on the program was an incentive to avoid the higher rates.   I have a complete physical every year.  I have my blood drawn for that.  My numbers are good.  I don't smoke.  Other than being a few pounds overweight, I'm in good health. 

Fuck me to tears.

Anyway...

It's gonna suck a whole lot more before it gets better.